EDGEMONT - A developer suing four cloistered Roman Catholic nuns for $26 million has spent years scheming to cash in on land next to the sisters' secluded convent, lawyers for the nuns charge in court papers.

In documents filed in federal court in White Plains, attorney Bob Bernstein said developer Rick Troy tried to get a $10 million tax write-off on the 2.3-acre property he bought for just $1.4 million, and knew as early as 2004 the land was zoned for single-family homes, not the four-story, 45-unit apartment building he now wants to build.

But Troy used a 1997 drafting error on a town zoning map to push the larger project, which has been the subject of ongoing legal disputes since he bought the land.

“He first got wind of the property of 2004, and that’s when his eyes lit up," Bernstein said. "It’s a get-rich-quick scheme, only it’s not working out so quick.”

His attorney, Michael Park, said he could not comment on the lawsuit because the case was still pending in court. But in court papers, Park said the sisters' arguments are "full of unsupported, irresponsible and potentially sanctionable allegations."

The suit accuses the nuns of violating the federal Fair Housing Act by blocking the apartment-building project, which would include affordable-housing units.

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The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament convent in Edgemont(Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)

At the heart of the dispute is a 106-year-old covenant that prohibits certain types of development on the land without consent of the sisters. S&R has argued that the covenant, which dates to 1912, should not still be enforceable.

The developer said the covenant was already waived in 1979 and 1980, when the 120-unit Scarsdale Woods condo complex and a small strip shopping center were approved and built along Central Park Avenue. Those lots were part of a larger property that was divided into 10 parcels at the time the covenant was filed, and includes the land that now houses the convent.

Troy finalized the purchase of his parcel in 2006. He bought it from the owner of a single-family home at the site, initially for $1.2 million but ultimately for more than $1.4 million to settle a legal dispute that arose from the sale.

The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament had purchased the larger, 6.7-acre lot next to the S&R property in 1996. The property previously belonged to the Marist Fathers, an order of monks who had occupied the land since 1965.

The sisters, part of a centuries old contemplative cloistered order, have lived there since, with their convent and the grounds surrounding it used for prayer and worship, and as a religious retreat. Only four nuns remain in the order; the oldest one is 77 years old.

Bernstein, their attorney, said the nuns were not aware of the legal battle surrounding development of the land until a 2013 meeting at Greenburgh Town Hall.

In the court papers, filed last week, Bernstein contends that Troy knew the land was zoned for single-family housing as early as 2004.

In an email to an architect that year, Troy wrote that the land was zoned R-20, which would allow only single-family homes on half-acre lots.

"It is in an R-20 zone and 2.37 acres," Troy wrote to architect Peter Gaito on March 8, 2004. "I am interested in building the greatest number of possible units."

Bernstein said the developer learned before moving ahead with the purchase there was an error in the town zoning map which incorrectly listed high-density zoning for the property — the same zoning in place along the bustling Central Park Avenue.

An appraisal done for the developer valued the land alone at about $10 million if the multifamily zoning were in place, Bernstein said. At the end of 2006, the developer began negotiating with the town and the Greenburgh Nature Center to donate the land.

According to the court records, S&R sought $1.8 million to donate the land, which would cover the cost of the purchase and other expenses. One catch was that the developer wanted the town to acknowledge that the property was zoned for multifamily housing, and that the land was therefore valued at $10 million.

That would allow the company to seek a heftier tax deduction for the donation.

“You can’t donate if the donation is contingent on getting your money back," Bernstein said. "It's, 'You give me $1.8 million by the end of the year and I will make a gift to you of the entire property and you, in turn, have to certify that that gift is $10 million.' You can’t do that because it is a quid pro quo. Gifts are supposed to be out of the kindness of your heart.”

Bernstein also said he does not believe S&R actually intends to build the apartment building. Rather, he believes it simply wants the project approved to increase the value of the land, which it can then sell for a higher price.

“What’s valuable to them is the ability to get the property zoned and free and clear in terms of being able to build multifamily housing so they can sell the rights," he said.